Banned Book Week Giveaway (and Blogaversary Celebration! Yay!)

Hey, y'all, do you know what next week is?

IT'S BANNED BOOK WEEK!

That's right: it's the time when we all get together and try to figure out why on earth people want to ban A Wrinkle In Time, James and the Giant Peach, or The Egypt Game.

Coincidentally?  September 28th is also my one-year blogaversary!  So imagine my delight when I discovered this great Banned Books giveaway hop I could participate in and celebrate both at the same time!

SO: To make sure that some of these amazing, truthful, quietly life-changing books are as abundantly available as possible...I am giving away three of my all-time favorite banned or challenged books.  If they're new to you, that's awesome.  If you have copies or you've read these books before, I'd really love it if you entered anyway.  If you win, find a teenager or a teacher or a librarian and give them these books, so that even more people will get to read them.  And when you're done with my giveaway, check out the tons of other bloggers hosting Banned Books Week giveaways as part of this blog hop by clicking over to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books. 

In My Giveaway:

1) Looking For Alaska by John Green.  This book has been challenged based on a scene depicting a crummy, awkward sexual encounter.  The knockout punch of love and grief and confusion and anger this book delivers is somehow reduced to one unsuccessful sex act. I'll let John Green explain why he thinks that's dopey:

2)The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  This book has been banned or challenged for a lot of reasons, language being the first one that most people would notice.  When I taught this book as part of a student choice lit circle unit, the group reading it called me over in shock, thinking there was no way I had read and and decided to teach it anyway.  But it's that good.  Alexie's books have also been banned in schools throughout Arizona under their bizarro law against books that might promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group (white people) or books that are targeted specifically at students of a particular ethnic group (except white people, I guess?).  He has a really eloquent statement about that here.

3) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  The reason behind challenging this one brings actual tears of anger to my eyes: this beautiful, honest, gut-wrenching novel about a young woman's rape is TOO SEXY.  In fact, it's pornographic.  Because of a RAPE SCENE.  Here's Laurie Halse Anderson's take on the subject.  If I had my way, every high school student in the world would read this book.  Yes, guys too.  No, rape isn't a "woman's issue." 

I will also be giving away a $10 gift card to Donors Choose so that the winner can help a teacher buy books (or something else, but we're all here because of books, right?) for his or her classroom.


a Rafflecopter giveaway